Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/handle/10635/177573
Title: | Potentially fatal paracetamol overdose and successful treatment with 3 days of intravenous N-acetylcysteine regime - A case report | Authors: | Sule A.A. Tai D.Y.H. Tze C.-C. Deepa B. Leow M. |
Keywords: | Codeine Hyperamylasaemia Ingestion Suicidal |
Issue Date: | 2006 | Citation: | Sule A.A., Tai D.Y.H., Tze C.-C., Deepa B., Leow M. (2006). Potentially fatal paracetamol overdose and successful treatment with 3 days of intravenous N-acetylcysteine regime - A case report. Annals of the Academy of Medicine Singapore 35 (2) : 108 - 111. ScholarBank@NUS Repository. | Abstract: | Introduction: Paracetamol overdose is the most common drug overdose worldwide. To our knowledge, the maximum number of paracetamol tablets ingested reported in the literature is 45 g. Clinical Picture: We describe a 21-year-old patient who acutely ingested 120 tablets, each 500 mg paracetamol (i.e., 60 g equivalent to 1200 mg/kg body weight) in a suicidal attempt. Our patient also drank 2 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup equivalent to 360 mg of codeine. At 6 hours post ingestion, her serum paracetamol level was 207 mg/L. The poor prognostic factors for paracetamol overdose in our patient included massive paracetamol ingestion (confirmed by blood levels), codeine co-ingestion and elevated serum amylase (189 U/L). Treatment: She was treated with a 3-day modified regimen of intravenous N-acetylcysteine. Outcome: The liver function tests and the prothrombin time remained normal over the second and third day of admission and the patient was discharged without complications on the fifth day. Conclusion: From this experience we feel that in very severe paracetamol poisoning, a modified regime of intravenous N-acetylcysteine for 3 days is safe and efficacious. | Source Title: | Annals of the Academy of Medicine Singapore | URI: | https://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/handle/10635/177573 | ISSN: | 03044602 |
Appears in Collections: | Staff Publications Elements |
Show full item record
Files in This Item:
There are no files associated with this item.
Google ScholarTM
Check
Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.